Talking-machine needle.



No. 870,723. PATENTED NOV. 12, 1907.

F. D. HALL.

TALKING MACHINE NEEDLE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 9, 1906.

45 softportion and a hard outer shell or crust is especially UNITED STATES" PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERIGKi DQHALL, or onroaeo, ILLINOIS,

Tamils-mourns NEEDLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented not. is, i907.

Application filed July 9.1906. Serial No. 325.211.

To all whom it may memv Be itknown that I, FREnEnrcnD. HALL, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Chi-' Cookcounty, Illinois, have invented a' certain new and useful Improvement in Talking-Machine Needles, of which the following is aspecification. Myinvention' relates topimprovements in talking machines, and'ha s for'i-t's object the production ofa device ,bym'esins of which the quality of the tone roduced is greatly improved. A further objectis the production of a device for reproducing" the sound from-the record disk without materiallyinjuring the disk itself. 'j I A iurther-object is the production of a practical and inexpensive device for reproducing the sound from the recorddisk. i

' These and such other objects as may hereinafter more appearare' attained by my device, embodiments of which-are illustrated'in the accompanying drawing i i which,

Figure, 1-' represents a perspectiveview of a talking machineshowing'my device inposition. Fig. 2

resents an"enla rged view of thenreproducer showing my reproducing'needle in place. Fig. 3' is a crosssection on line 3 8 of Fig. 2, looldng in the direction ,indicated by thearrows. Figf4 is a bottom view of 'my improved needle. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of by the arrows. l Like numerals of reference indicate like parts my improved needle.

the yarious figuresof the drawings.

Referring now to the-figures, 8 .represents the talk ing machine case, 9 the horn, 10 the horn support,

11 the record disk, 12 the reproducer, and 13 the reproducer needle; A.m etal1ic arm 14 is secured to the center cit-he diaphragm l5, and the other end secured to the frame 16, whichf frarne is secured .to the shell of the reproducer. A block' 17 is secur'ed.to this frame,

in an opening-of" which is secured the reproducing needle, 13.. A'set'screw l4 pa'sse's through the block andinto fthe opening, "engaging the-"side. of the reneedle, clamping it securely in place.

This needle 18 composed of vegetable fiber. .have found that a fiber comprising anv inner comparatively to my purposes. The material by the use of which I have so far been able to derive the most sati'sfactory results is a portion of bamboo'forming the needle in such a manner that the outer casing of the bamboo shall form one of the outer sides of the needle.

The needleis constructed in any form desired, such, for as having a squarecross-section as shown inFig. 6.) The-outer hard fiber is shown in this figure 1 as 18', the inner softer fiber, as 19. In preparing Fig. .6 is a cross-section on- 'line-'66 of Fig. 5, looking in the direction indicated the needle for use, a portion of the inner fiber is cut away toward one end,.at 20, the needle terminating in a thin portion 2i. This makes an angular chiselshaped end consisting entirely of the hard outer shell of the fiber. This end may be left at right angles to the 60 needle itself, or may be cut to an acute angle, as shown at 22. I find in practice that such an angleis well adapted for thepurpose of allowing the reproduce! to follow the sound undulations as recorded in the record -disk and thus to faithfully reproduce the sound-to 66 the horn. .It is obvious that the same result might be obtained bysecurely fastening together layers of vegetable fiber of different density and degrees of hardness.

or by using a fiber or wood in which the harder por- I time might be on the inside of the piece, in which cascw 70 cuts would be made on the two opposite sides tapering toward the middle at the end. So, also, I have shown the cut between 20 and- 21- as curved. Of course, this cut could be straight, but in practice I find that a greater resiliency is given the needle and a correspond- 'ing clearness to the tone reproduced by the-curved cut-shown. So, also, the cross-section of the fiber,

{is evident that if desired some other portion of the fiber itself couldbe formed into a point for the purpose of,reproducing the sound and thereby, by the use of points of varying degree of hardness and resiliency, considerably varying the quality of tone reproduced. I

'lhe main purpose of. my invention is the production of a needle of a vegetable growth, regardless of the shape or cross-section of the same.

The ordinary record of talking-machines of the Victor type consists in a hard rubber disk, thereco'rd of sound being made through themedium of a'spiral groove extending from the outer portion of the disk toward the center, and continuing as far therein as necessary. These grooves are V-shaped, and so far as appears to the naked eye, consist in parallel grooves. When these grooves are looked at through a microscope, it appears that the adjacent coils of the spiral are in no sense uniform, but the spiral itself is really a series of sinuous curves. The grooves are of practically a uniform depth, the variation in sound, tone, timbre, pitch, etc., being caused by the variations in the contour of the side walls of the groove. This being the case, it is at once apparent that in order to accurately reproduce the sound, it is necessary to have however, which is also inexpensive, the needle after being used for one record may be thrown away and a' the stylus or reproducing needle follow the exact line of the sides of the grooves. In the use of the ordinary metallic steel needle having a sharp point, the operative point of the needle only bears against the bottom of the groove, and in the event that the record has extreme variation resulting in sharp bends or turns in the sinuous grooves, the point of the needle is quite apt, insteadof accurately following the groove, to jump across the groove at these points, causing breaks in the sound. By the use of my device, not only does thepoint oi the stylus follow the bottom of the groove, but also theedges of the stylus pass along approximately the entire surface of the sides of the grooves, thus accurately and faithfully reproducing the sound. I have found that the best results are attained by the use of needles of a square or triangular cross-section, as these needles more accurately fit the curves in the ordinary record. In any event, however, the edges of the needle always bear against the sides of the groove at two or more points, regardless of the factwhether the point itself travels in the bottom groove or not.

In the use of the talking machine, the reproducing needle exclusively used is steel, and theneedles themthough it may be used an indefinite number of times by persons who have not a musical ear and cannot notice the difference in tone By the use of any improved needle, .however, which is of a less degree of hardness than the record itself, it is possible to use the same record several hundred times without any appreciable difference in thetone of the production. This fact gives a great value to my device, as the. recordsof the finest singers and musical productions are quite expensive, and if it becomes necessary to replace them after they have-been used a few times, it necessitates a large outlay of money; By the use of my-device,

new needle put in place, and the record remain in as good condition as before beingplayed.

I claim only the use of my device as a reproducing needle or stylus, the device being incapable for use as a cutting or recording stylus.

I claim:

1. A reproducing needle formed from vegetable fiber, said fiber comprising a laminated structure with layers of different degrees of hardness.

2. A reproducing needle formed from vegetable fiber, said fiber comprising a laminated structure with layers of diderent degrees of hardness,'one end of said needle terminating in an angularly disposed portion.

3. A reproducing needle formed from vegetable fiber having a thin shell on one side thereof, comprising a tough outer portion, the balance of said needle comprising-a portion of a less degree of hardness.

4. A reproducing needle formedvfrorn vegetable fiber having a thin shell on one side thereof, comprising a tough outer portion, the balance of said needle comprising a portion of a less. degree of hardness, a sectionof said latter portion being cut away leaving the thin shell forming an angularly disposed point adapted to follow the undulations in the disk record.

5. A reproducing needle formed from layers of vege: table fiber of varying degrees of hardness.

6. A reproducing needle formed from layers of vegetable fiber of varying degrees of hardness, one end of said needle being cut away to form an angularly disposed point adapted to follow the undulations of the record disk.

7. A reproducing needle formed from bamboo fiber, the outer shell of said bamboo forming one side of said needle.

8. A reproducing needle formed from bamboo' fiber, the out'er shell of said bambdo forming one .side of said needle, aportion of said fiber being cut away longitudinally, forming an angularly disposed poln't adapted to follow the undulations in the "record disk.

9. A reproducing needle formed from the outer shell of bamboo fiber. of a substantially rectangular crosssection, one end of said needle being cut away longitudinally, and the resulting end being cut transversely, forming an angularlyv disposed point adapted to follow the undulations of the sound record.

105A reproducer for talking machines comprising a -needle formed from a yegetable growth and having an angular cross-section, the operative portion of said needle consisting of the edges formed between adjacent sides and the end'of the needle.

11. A reproducing needle comprising a strip of wood, of a triangular cross-section, the operative portion of said needle being the edges formed by themeeting of adjacent sides and the end of the needle.

12. A reproducing needle comprising a wooden pin, of

an angular cross-section cut off at the end and adapted .to "enter within and bear against the sides of the grooves in arecord disk. 13. In a talking machine. the combination with a re producer, of a record disk, and a reproducing needle formed from a vegetable growth' and having an angular cross-section, the operative portion of said needle consisting-of the edges formed between adjacent sides and the end.

14. In a talking machine, the combination with a re- Signed by me at Chicago, Cook county, Illinois, this.

2nd day of July, 1906.

' FREDERICK D. HALL.

Witnesses F. H. DRURY,

' ALBERT J. Sausnn. 

